Tannins can be the famous salt in the soup, sorry, in wine. However, too much of it is just as undesirable as having too little of the tannins in the wine. The tannins naturally present in wine are found in the grape seeds, the grape skin and in the raisins. In addition, the winemaker has the option of sending his wine to oak barrels for refinement, where the fresh 225 liter barrique barrels can work wonders by releasing wood tannins. Tannins are not perceptible to the nose. Only when they come into contact with proteins on the taste buds of our tongue and palate does a taste structure emerge that is reminiscent of leather. Depending on the quality and age of the wine in question, it can manifest itself as dry, bitter, astringent or even astringent. Red wines generally have a higher concentration of tannins as, unlike white wines, the entire grape, including skin and seeds, is fermented during the production of red wines. A high density of tannins is by no means a sign of inadequate grape quality. The tannins are largely reduced in the course of storage or as the wine matures in the bottle. They then finally sink to the bottom of the bottle as sediment and lose their typical drying and astringent effect on the palate. On the other hand, the tannins give a red wine the necessary structure. They are also referred to as the “backbone”. If there are not enough tannins in the wine, it often comes across as very flat and not well balanced, a classic crafting error. Tannins in wine are expressed in gallic acid. The general rule of thumb is that white wine should contain around 300mg/l and red wine around 1800mg/l.
